To handle the daily flow of hundreds of thousands of parcels without disruption, PostNL relies on a fleet of thousands of handheld terminals. When the existing equipment approached its end of life, the company launched a thorough evaluation of new hardware. The choice ultimately fell on the Datalogic Memor 35, an industrial Android handheld that combines speed, ruggedness, and user-friendliness with modern features such as wireless charging and extended battery life.
“Our previous generation of devices was nearing its end of life,” says Bart te Winkel, Product Owner Hardware at PostNL. “We also wanted to add new functionality, such as built-in navigation on the handheld. Choosing Datalogic gave us the option to adopt a future-proof device and work with a partner with a clear, forward-looking strategy.”
PostNL uses around 14,000 handhelds for parcel distribution. The initial trigger for replacement was practical: the existing devices had reached the end of their lifecycle, and the supplier would no longer develop the product or its associated Android platform. The transition also offered ample opportunities to implement improvements.
Beyond integrating navigation directly into the handheld, battery capacity, wireless charging, responsible device usage, and ease of maintenance played major roles. “Our couriers must be able to complete an entire working day on a single battery charge, even with navigation active,” says Max Visser, Senior Logistics Designer at PostNL. “A more powerful battery and the ability to wirelessly top up inside the vehicle were therefore essential.”
The selection process began at the end of 2023 with an internal inventory of requirements. A formal market inquiry followed in April 2024, to which several suppliers responded. PostNL tested various models under identical conditions.
“It was a highly structured process,” te Winkel explains. “We compared devices on hardware specifications, operating system, manageability, usability, and price-performance ratio. We also examined how easily our own applications could be migrated.”
During an extensive pilot, more than 80 routes were tested by 25 different users—couriers, subcontractors, and IT teams from the Netherlands and Belgium. “The Datalogic Memor 35 came out on top unanimously,” says Edwin Gerde, Sales Director Benelux at Datalogic. “We stand behind the quality of our product and weren’t surprised, but it’s quite rare for such a diverse group of testers to reach unanimous agreement.”
The Memor 35 is specifically designed for intensive use in logistics environments. The handheld is dust- and waterproof with IP65/IP68 ratings and drop-resistant up to 2.4 metres. Visser tested that himself: “In the test phase I literally threw it, put it in water, and even had a delivery van drive over it. It just kept working.”
To prevent further damage, PostNL developed a Kevlar lanyard in collaboration with accessory supplier Mobilis. “This prevents the device from falling or getting lost,” Visser says.
The replaceable protective housing also simplifies maintenance: a damaged exterior can be swapped without retiring the entire device.
The new handheld runs Android 13 Enterprise and is upgradeable up to Android 18. Datalogic has also developed its own software layer on top of the operating system, which includes features for battery management, scanner optimisation, and Mobile Device Management (MDM).
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